‘We cook!’ Jessica announced, as if it were the most straightforward decision in the world.
Rose laughed, despite it all, following her friend to the kitchen where she unpacked the groceries Jessica had ordered earlier, pouring them another glass each as she sat at the kitchen bench to watch her friend cook, listening to her talk about her four-year-old twin daughters, to whom Rose was godmother.
‘It looks like you have a stack of unopened mail there,’ Jessica said, gesturing towards the large pile at the end of the bench. ‘Would you like me to go through it in the morning, so you don’t have to? I’m here to do whatever you need me to do.’
Rose sighed and stood to retrieve it. ‘No, I’ll do it now. Between the letters from the lawyers, the hospital and theinsurance company, it was all starting to get a bit much, but I can’t ignore it forever.’
‘I know this is a touchy subject,’ Jessica said as Rose began to flick through the envelopes, ‘but have you heard from Luke?’
Rose glanced up. ‘I think I made it pretty clear to him that I didn’t want to hear from him ever again, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but no. He hasn’t even sent me a text since I moved out.’Not even to see if I’d lost Mum yet.
Jessica grimaced. ‘He seemed so nice in the beginning,’ she said. ‘Clearly I’m a terrible judge of character though, because he turned out to be an absolute arsehole.’
‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think he was the one, so I guess we’re both terrible judges of character.’ Luke had been perfect on paper, in fact he’d been rather perfect in general, until he’d criticised her for taking a sabbatical from her job and then given her an ultimatum when she’d told him she’d be moving in with her mother to nurse her until she passed away. It had become immediately clear that he was seriously lacking in compassion, and she wouldn’t have swapped the last few months she’d spent with her mum for anything—and certainly not for him.
‘And what about work?’ Jessica asked. ‘How long do you have to decide whether you’re going back or not?’
As they talked, Rose sorted the envelopes into piles.
‘I have two weeks from now to give them my answer,’ she replied. ‘They’ve been incredibly understanding, but they can only let me stay on leave for so long.’
‘And the hesitation in your voice is because…’
‘Because I don’t know if I even want to be a lawyer anymore,’ she said, surprised at how easily her thoughts had rolled off her tongue. ‘I keep imagining going back to work, practising again, being part of that world, and there’s not even a glimmer of excitement inside me at the thought of it. I just don’t know if it’s for me.’
‘You’ve just lost your mum, so it’s probably completely normal to feel like this, but then again, maybe everything you’ve been through has made you see things more clearly. If you don’t love what you do…’
‘It’s like my heart isn’t in it anymore. I think maybe I need a change of scene, or perhaps I just need a proper break after everything that’s happened, to catch my breath.’ Rose had been going over and over in her mind whether she wanted to go back or not, whether she was brave enough to turn her back on the career she’d spent so long studying and working for.
‘Perhaps I could tempt you to come to New York then? The girls and I would love having you close, and it might be just the change you need.’
‘And I would love seeing them more, but…’ Rose murmured, holding up the last envelope from the pile and staring at the return address, which clearly stated that it was from Argentina. ‘Whatisthis?’
Rose forgot entirely what they’d been talking about and slid her fingernail beneath the seal, surprised at the thick weight of the envelope and the matching cream paper inside. She’d managed her mum’s affairs for some time now, but she’d never had anything unusual like this arrive before. It was usually correspondence about her banking or insurance, but this…Rose unfolded it and skimmed over the words, one hand lifting to her mouth as she gasped, not believing the words that were printed on the page.
‘What is it?’ Jessica asked, coming to stand beside her. ‘You know my husband will fight the insurance company for you if they’re refusing to?—’
‘It’s not that,’ Rose murmured, as she read it again before passing it to Jessica. ‘It’s from a law firm, in Buenos Aires. It’s addressed to my mother.’
‘Buenos Aires? Are you sure?’
Rose nodded and reached for her drink, taking a large sip and then another, trying to stop the shake in her hand.
‘What business did your mother have in Argentina?’ Jessica asked, taking the letter from her. ‘Why would a law firm from another country be writing to her?’
Rose didn’t answer; she just sat there and tried to digest what she’d just read, waiting for her friend to catch up. Jessica had gone silent as she read.
‘Rose, this says that your mother is the sole beneficiary of a large estate in Argentina,’ Jessica said, her eyes wide as she stared back at her. ‘It says that the family matriarch has passed away, and that?—’
‘My mother has inherited her expansive polo property and the balance of her fortune, as heiress to the Santiago family estate,’ Rose finished for her, having already committed the words to heart. ‘That it was intended to be left to my grandmother from her biological mother, but that because she’s no longer alive, it goes to my mother.’
Jessica met her gaze. ‘Which means that now your mother isn’t here…’
Rose blinked, hardly able to comprehend the reality of what they were discussing.
‘Rose, it means thatyouwill inherit this now.You’rethe sole beneficiary of your mother’s estate, correct?’
Rose nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said, her voice so raspy it barely came out as a whisper. ‘I am.’
